Huskers Beat Badgers for 3-0 Big Ten Start
Huskers.com
Madison, Wis. - Natalie Potts scored all of her game-high 16 points in the second half, while Alexis Markowski produced her 30th career double-double to power Nebraska to a 69-57 Big Ten women's basketball road win at the Kohl Center on Thursday night.
With the victory, Nebraska improved to 3-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since NU's first season in the conference (2011-12), while moving to 11-3 overall. Wisconsin slipped to 7-6 and 0-3 in the league.
Markowski, a 6-3 center from Lincoln, Neb., finished with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for her Big Ten-leading ninth double-double of the season. She put up 11 points and eight rebounds in the first half to help Nebraska a 14-point lead before taking a 38-27 edge to the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, Potts scored Nebraska's first eight points but Wisconsin cut NU's lead to just 49-47 at the end of three quarters. Potts kept pushing in the fourth quarter, scoring eight more points. Her third field goal of the quarter pushed NU's lead to 61-53 with 1:35 left. She then scored her final points of the night at the free throw line to cap the scoring with about 20 seconds left to seal NU's eighth consecutive win in the series with the Badgers.
Leading 56-53, Potts pushed the margin to five points before Callin Hake scored to extend the lead to 59-53 with 5:07 left. Hake continued her strong play off the bench by finishing with eight points.
Darian White also made winning plays at both ends in the fourth quarter, scoring four of her six points, while Kendall Coley added six big first-half points to help the Huskers build their double-digit lead in the first 20 minutes. All 11 Huskers scored in the game, including five points, four rebounds and six assists from Jaz Shelley.
As a team, Nebraska hit 43.9 percent (25-57) of its shots from the field, including 9-of-27 (.333) three-pointers. The Huskers also won the turnover battle, 14-11. NU held Wisconsin to 36.1 percent (22-61) shooting for the game, including 7-of-33 threes (.212). UW won the war on the boards 38-36, including nine rebounds to go with 16 points from Serah Williams.
Ronnie Porter added 10 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Badgers, while Brooke Schramek contributed 12 points.
The Huskers will be back in action at home on Sunday to take on Big Ten unbeaten and No. 14 Indiana. Tip-off between Nebraska and the Hoosiers is set for 1 p.m., with a special pregame ceremony honoring All-American Jordan Hooper with the retirement of her No. 35 jersey beginning at approximately 12:40 p.m. (CT). Tickets are available now at Huskers.com.
